by Michael Monks
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UPDATE: 5:45PM I just spoke with Covington City Manager Larry Klein. "There's no doubt that this (Omnicare's departure) will have repurcussions on the budget," Klein said. "With the pending loss of Nielsen, we'll have to revisit our budget again. We've yet to be successful on labor contracts. Once again there's only one place to look and it's personnel costs." Klein remains optimistic about Covington in spite of Omnicare leaving. "I think there's a lot of good things we all see over the horizon. They're not going to be next week or next year. When you look at the Gateway project, convention center expansion, IRS beginning to make some movement, it all bodes well," Klein said. "There's light at the end of the tunnel, it's just a rather long tunnel."
ORIGINAL POST:
The long rumored move of Omnicare from Covington's riverfront to that of Cincinnati is now the reality. A press conference Monday afternoon sealed that deal as Ohio Governor John Kasich, Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory and Omnicare CEO John Figueroa shook the hands of one another and smiled for cameras and reporters on a high floor of Atrium One, Omnicare's new home, that offers a view of Covington, the city on the other side of the river, and on the other side of this "good news".
"This was an easy decision because it does involve a national headquarters and a great number of people," Kasich said. "It represents a company that has a great growth potential." The pharmaceutical giant was looking for new digs to accomodate a planned move to bring all of its area employees under one roof. Though Omnicare was courted by Covington and Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear with a hefty incentive package to stay, Kasich's offer was higher and more aggressive.
"We are very proud of our Kentucky roots," Figueroa claimed, adding that seven hundred Omnicare jobs would remain in Louisville, where in the last month the company has spent a lot of time courting a buy of its nearest competitor, Pharmerica.
"I declare today to be 'Omnicare Day' in the City of Cincinnati," boasted a glowing Mayor Mallory. When questioned if Cincinnati's bullish grab of hundreds of jobs from Covington would have an effect on regionalism, the mayor responded, "I spend lots of money in Covington."
"We're gonna be talking about the (Brent Spence) bridge this week, we're working with officials in Northern Kentucky on this bridge," Mallory continued. "We've worked on a lot of issues and initiatives in a regional basis. This is not going to stop this process."
"When you have a press conference and you're jumping up and down for pulling away a significant company from a town that is smaller and relies more on the income than Cincinnati, it affects regionalism," said Covington City Commissioner Shawn Masters. "But if this is how they are going to play the game, we have to show our cards and we have to do it soon."
"We do not try to steal companies," said Steve Stevens, President of the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce. "We've always had that truce. I don't feel like these guys were trying to poach these companies locally. Kasich called us and every other surrounding state 'the enemy' and said he was going after us."
Stevens agreed that the loss to Covington will be greater than the gain to Cincinnati. "Losing five-hundred white collar jobs, Covington is in bad shape as it is," he said.
The news of a major corporate departure like Omnicare could not come at a worse time for Covington, just two months removed from a contentious budget debate that resulted in the elimination of several public jobs and the early retirements of many long-serving employees. The budget hole then for the fiscal year was projected at around $4 million. The loss of Omnicare and the likely loss of AC Nielsen in the coming weeks will result in more than a million dollars more that will need to be replenished.
"Probably within the next few weeks we'll be working on the second round of a contingency plan," said Masters. As far as layoffs, "we haven't gotten that far into it, but that's certainly something that's going to have to be put on the table."
Both Stevens and Masters remain optimistic about Covington and the region following Omnicare's departure. "We've got to keep sharpening pencils and working on tax reform," Stevens said.
"I think this is a chance for the Commission to begin to restructure community development where we're more focused toward a sales mentality rather than a reactive one," Masters said. "We have to be out there looking for business."
Omnicare's CEO stated that employees will start moving across the river from RiverCenter in December and should be completely moved to Cincinnati by April, though some jobs would remain through June. The move to Downtown Cincinnati also affects the Omnicare employees who work at a facility in Ft. Wright.
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